Monday, January 31, 2011

We have long been advocates of the secret of the Old Post Office Pavilion. Go to the top of the clocktower for free and see basically the same sight as those who wait in line for hours at the Washington Monument to peer out of those tiny windows.

Of course, the Old Post Office could be so much more. It's well-located and has a food court/mall inside in an open space with high cielings and skylights that could cater to area businesspeople and residents. But it's mostly mired with low quality food and dirty tables.

The Verizon Center was packed with fans, even most of the luxury suites had people in them.

The event﻿ featured free style competitions, where the trucks are given time to crush things and make the crowd go wild, and head-to-head races (over stacks of cars of course).

There were also races between two teams of All Terrain Vehicles. One team was from New York, which has sufficient trash talk about our fine town, and the other represented D.C. In the end, D.C. won of course (as in life).

Instead of the real Grave Digger, however, this Monster Jam featured "Grave Digger The Legend," a throwback to the original Grave Digger. This one has a simple paint job and muted colors, but retains its hearse shape:

Why the different Grave Digger? It was probably more than just for the sake of nostalgia. We happen to know that Monster Jam was also holding events this weekend in Anaheim, Orlando, Phoenix, Indianapolis, Greenville (S.C.), Uniondale (N.Y.), LittleRock, Wichita, and Roanoke.

Friday, January 28, 2011

We make no secret here at Penn Quarter Insider that Redline is our new favorite Penn Quarter bar.

Fritz Hahn of the Washington Post recently reviewed the "gastropub," as they like to be called, and largely agreed.

They report that Redline has free wifi and plans to introduce an iPhone/iPad app that allows customers to order and have food delivered to their table. We love that plan. Last night, Penn Quarter Insider noticed that when you are at a table with your own beer tap, the wait staff tends to (understandably) pay less attention to you. Penn Quarter insider was hungry. An iPhone app soon to the rescue.

He complains about being briefed at the beginning of each meal--which we agree with, but all-in-all, Cuba Libre is a tourist restaurant. So it's usually everyone's first time. He also tells the staff to ease up on the sales pitches, which do get beyond annoying at the 9th and H restaurant.

He also says his food has gotten worse each visit. That is what we expected of a tourist restaurant, but have not experienced like he has. Contrarily, our food has gotten better and better.

Sietsema complains about the noise in the restaurant--a complaint that we have heard frequently and sympathize with. However, he also reports that the restaurant's owners are investing in $30,000 worth of sound absorbers.

He concludes with these words: "Cuba Libre looks like a place for tourists -- and too often lives down to that archetype."

Hill Country BBQ claims to be opening in Winter 2011; however, the project has been delayed multiple times. Once they received a citation for working after hours and were ordered to cease working. So their attempts to speed things up may have cost them time in the end.

PQ Insider took a peek behind the plywood that has become a stable landmark on 7th Street.

There is a glass wall up, which will be the exterior of the restaurant once it is open. Beyond that glass wall, however, the space is still mostly gutted and it looks like their is quite a bit of work to do:

So will it be open by March? Only time will tell. But November is "Winter 2011," too.

A website called Village Vines is offering 30% off your entire bill at select restaurants. The catch? You have to pay $10 to make the reservation. However, Washington restaurants do not make it difficult to make up that $10.

Village Vines offers the deal at many Penn Quarter restaurants, including:

PS7's

CoCo Sala

Zengo

And several other nearby restaurants:

Againn

Lima

Tuscana West

Aqua Al 2

Bistro Bis

Vidalia

And of course restaurants in all the other parts of town. You can sign up here.

WMATA says that rail and bus service will operate normally today, despite forecasts for several inches of snow.

Of course "normally" isn't always a good thing. The Federal Government was released two hours early today, and as the 5pm crowd left work (at 3pm), we have heard several reports that Metro was not in rush hour mode.

As it approaches 5:00 p.m., Metro should be adding more trains and more cars to those trains.

Be careful on the platforms, as they may be slippery.

Metro will suspend above ground service only if it snows more than 8 inches because electrical power cannot get to the train.

That means you cannot only conveniently see the different Circulator routes, but there is a live map telling you where each Circulator is.

This is especially convenient for Penn Quarter residents who are in the middle of a lot of Circulator routes. You can also assess whether you should go to the 9th and F stop, for example, or whether it will be faster to hop down to 9th and Pennsylvania.

Here is a map of part of the route from the Convention Center to the Southwest Waterfront. The arrows are actual buses and their direction of travel (you can see them move on the screen on the website):

There is also a list of each stop on each route and the time until the next Circulator gets to that stop.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

If you're heading east out of Penn Quarter tonight, be aware that streets near the Capitol Complex will be closed beginning at 7 p.m. They will re-open once the State of the Union address is over and the President has exited the area.

The following streets east of Penn Quarter will be closed this evening:

D Street, NE between 2nd Street, NE & Louisiana Avenue, NW

C Street, NE between 2nd Street, NE & Louisiana Avenue, NW

Constitution Avenue between 2nd Street, NE & Louisiana Avenue, NW

Delaware Avenue between Columbus Circle & Constitution Avenue, NE

New Jersey Avenue between Louisiana Avenue, & D Street, NE

Pennsylvania Avenue between 1st Street, & 3rd Street, NW

East Capitol Street between 2nd Street, & 1st Street, NE/SE

1st Street between Columbus Circle, NE & C Street, SE

1st Street between Louisiana Avenue, NW & Washington Avenue, SW

The best alternate route is to go north and around.

Do not try to cross over to the other side of the mall and then go east, as several streets on the south side of the Capitol will also be closed.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

As you may recall, Crumbsgave away 1,000 free cupcakes when they opened their Penn Quarter store at 11th and F Streets.
Today, the Crumbs at the other end of Penn Quarter, in Union Station, is open! It is located in the train concourse.

And guess what they're doing? Giving away 1,000 free cupcakes! Get 'em while they last!

Their hours at the new store will be 6:30 a.m. until 10:00 p.m. every day except Sunday, when they will open at 8:30 a.m.

Our readers have indicated that Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan lives in The Lansburgh. This is not that surprising, particularly since she moved here as Solicitor General at the Justice Department, and The Lansburgh is just a hop, skip, and a jump from her old office.

In fact, many Justice Department notables have lived at The Lansburgh, including Attorneys General Janet Reno and Michael Mukasey. We have even heard that Senators Bob Corker and Sheldon Whitehouse live there, too.

Not surprisingly, Kagan has often been spotted in the Penn Quarter area, most recently at Merzi.

Kagan was reportedly spotted with two other women looking at a townhouse in the Logan Circle neighborhood. The townhouse is reportedly valued in the low 7-figures, which makes sense because Kagansold her home in Cambridge for $1.53 Million.

Being the justice she is, Kagan apparently asked a lot of questions during her tour of the townhouse.

The Carpetbaggers Children was written by Horton Foote, who also wrote the Academy Award-winning screenplay for To Kill a Mockingbird.

The Carpetbaggers Children stars three actresses: Nancy Robinette, Holly Twyford and Kimberly Schraf. Over the course of the play each of the actresses, who play sisters, tell their personal version of the family’s history: how they attempted to maintain their Texas farm which was acquired by their father after the Civil War.

But here's the deal - Penn Quarter Insider readers get a special discount if they actually live in Penn quarter.

You get 20% off of tickets to The Carpetbaggers Children by simply using the promo code PENNQ.

However, you must show proof once you get to the box office that you actually live in Penn Quarter. According to Ford's Theatre, "the Penn Quarter neighborhood is defined as the area bordered by 15th Street Northwest and the Center Leg Freeway (Interstate 395) to the west and east, and between New York/Massachusetts Avenues and Pennsylvania Avenue to the north and south."

You may have heard that Facebook is expanding its DC presence and moving into space at 1155 F Street N.W.

We now hear that chain superstore Target will be moving into that building as well - though they are simply relocating within the neighborhood, moving from 500 8th Street N.W. Other tenants of that building include Home Depot, Simpson Thacher, and Novo Nodisk.

The new news is that online deal site Living Social is also taking up more space in Penn Quarter. They are moving into 718 7th Street N.W., where they will occupy 12,500 square feet.

Living Socialalready occupies two buildings in Penn Quarter that they intend to keep--829 7th Street N.W. and 702 H Street N.W.

Across the street from City Vista, on the Penn Quarter side of K street (though technically just outside of Penn Quarter), there is currently this large parking lot:

Before

﻿

﻿In that area, there are a lot of parking lots. An area that was supposed to boom after City Vista and other developments were built, it was somewhat stalled when the recession hit, causing development to slow down a bit.

Douglas Development is about to change that, at least at this one parking lot. Hopefully their new building will connect Penn Quarter to City Vista with more continuity of development.

Their new mixed-use development at 450 K Street N.W. will look like this:

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Their mixologist, Gina Chersevani, lost 50 pounds last year and realizes that drinks can quietly add to your daily calorie count. That's a real problem in Washington, where getting drinks is part of the business culture (if you can call it business).

Chersevani didn't stop at a low calorie-count; her drinks also include ingredients that are healthy (such as a chili that speeds up metabolism, which is infused in vodka) and that encourage slow sipping of your drink - meaning even fewer calories.

Chersevani even makes her own simple syrup, a common and calorie-loaded ingredient in many drinks, with calorie-free Splenda.

So now you can celebrate in Penn Quarter without breaking your New Year's resolution - we'll drink to that.

If Penn Quarter seems unusually quiet today at 11 a.m., this is why. The President has issued the following statement:

“Tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. eastern standard time, I call on Americans to observe a moment of silence to honor the innocent victims of the senseless tragedy in Tucson, Arizona, including those still fighting for their lives. It will be a time for us to come together as a nation in prayer or reflection, keeping the victims and their families closely at heart.”

Who doesn't love a good bargain? For those who live or work in Penn Quarter, a lot of our neighborhood restaurants have loyalty programs. These programs might work to your advantage, especially if you already regularly eat at these restaurants anyway.

The Deal: This program costs $20 to join, but you get a $20 gift certificate in the mail about a month after joining. You then get 1 point for each dollar spent. The points differ based on how many you want to redeem, but 350 points gets you a $25 gift card. You also get moved to the top of the waitlist, a birthday present, and other promotions.

The Deal: Bruegger's offers a bottomless mug that you can buy (or you can simply get a card or keychain card) that gets you free coffee (hot or iced), tea, and soft drinks for the entire year. This can save you a lot of money if you use it often.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Maybe it's too big to be called a pothole. In the southbound lane on 7th Street approaching D street there is a massive pothole right in front of the future Hill County BBQ.

The pothole is often hard to see (despite its size), causing many cars to hit it hard, especially as they try to make it through the traffic light at D street. Other cars are practically coming to a stop to roll through the hole at a slow rate of speed, causing a traffic backup. Some cars are even stopping completely there, waiting for a pause in northbound traffic, and going around the pothole on the other side of the double yellow line.

We don't know if the pothole is related to the construction at Hill Country BBQ, but it is definitely man-made. Be careful if you're heading down 7th Street--both for the pothole and for cars going around it.

For those who maybe venture into the neighborhood to our north and find yourself at the Mount Vernon Square Metro Station, you may be pleased to hear that metro drivers are using the pocket tracks there as a lavatory!

A "pocket track" is an area of track where a metro train can park and/or reverse directions, and Unsuck DC Metro reports that an Inspector General Report (available here) says that drivers are using the pocket track to relieve themselves.

Sunday, January 2, 2011

The money has run out - a theme from 2010 that seems to be continuing into 2011. The shuttle that launched in August 2009 to take people from Gallery Place to H Street N.E. will no longer be in operation this year.

The D.C. Council says the funding for the shuttle has simply run out, and it made its last trip on December 31st.

However, we previously posted about the new X9 express Metrobus, that should make the commute a little easier.

Saturday, January 1, 2011

PQInsider attended Old Ebbitt Grill's New Year's Eve Party -- though pricey, we expected a great time.

We were wrong.

We got there to find that the front door staff was friendly and the coat-check staff even friendlier. There was a framed sign saying they don't accept tips--right beside a hat full of tips

The party was minimal. The drinks were weak. The food sparse. The DJ unskilled.

The "open bar" that was supposed to last until 1:00 a.m. (for $130 per ticket), ended at 12:30 p.m.

There was fake gambling, but there was no room at any gambling table. The chips you won were supposed to be exchanged for a chance at a raffle; however, the raffle table was manned by rude hosts who made it difficult to put your ticket into buckets and most attendees were unaware any raffle took place.

New Year's Eve is expected to be a disappointment. For that reason, many people skip the sponsored parties and went to the well-known name: Old Ebbitt Grill. In this case, it didn't pay off.

How was your New Year's experience? Let us know at pqinsider@gmail.com